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Iron Heroes

Xin’s Crows take the fight to the abandoned monastery! In order to secure their caravan, they must stop the bandits from attacking once and for all. To their good fortune, the masked assassin who has hounded their every move has shown himself. The heroes must fight their way through to the assassin and then overtake him in a chase across the desert. What secrets does the assassin have and what will Xin’s Crows do after that? Find out in this thrilling episode!

Xin’s Crows are now deep in the desert and must deal with the bandits, one way or the other if they hope to make it across with their wares (and hides) intact. But to stop the elusive desert bandits, they must first find their hidden fortress. While the main caravan laboriously crosses the desert, a small group can easily make a detour in order to question local nomads and traders at a nearby oasis. Even after they get a lead, getting to the hideout will be quite hard and who knows what’s lying in wait for them there?

Synopsis: Xin’s Crows follow the Imperial Army as they march to war and leave civilization behind. The desert is harsh terrain and the road ahead is littered with the bones of travelers who were too weak to survive. Aside from natural dangers like the heat, the camp followers must fend for themselves against bandits and predatory animals. In fact, Xin’s Crows have to fight off a bandit raid themselves to protect their wares. Even after they deal with the raid, the Crows must establish their place in the thriving economy of the marching army by tricking business rivals and securing their own supply lines. Life is cheap out in the barren wastes of the Deserts, but to the Crows, everything else will cost you.

Xin’s Crows set off to find their fortune, following the Imperial Army as they march to confront the Grey Sky Horde. First they must pass through the underground kingdom, a massive network of tunnels carved through a mountain. As the Crows make their way through the twisty tunnels, they find the Great Empire can be as dangerous in the ‘civilized’ parts as it is in the frontier. Can the Crows avoid the thieves, slavers, and other threats in the darkness of the underground? Find out in the second episode of the Fortunes of War!

The Great Empire is in turmoil. The western provinces rebel and foreign kingdoms make trouble along the borders. General Xin, a renowned tactician, was charged with suppressing a rebellion in Jing Province, the farthest and wildest province of the twelve. Xin was forced to recruit mercenaries, who were common in Jing province, as it was the center of trade between the Empire and many other foreign kingdoms. A horde of the Warriors of the Grey Sky used the rebellion to launch their own invasion of the Great Empire and routed both Xin’s army and the rebellion.

The last rebel officer alive, a man named Sheng, did not want to see the Great Empire fall to the horde so he told a few remaining mercenaries of a secret exit out of the valley, on the condition that they warn the Great Empire. Sheng made each mercenary swear a blood oath to each other to keep each other alive in order to make sure the normally selfish mercenaries would work as a team. In order to keep the horde from killing them, the mercenaries posed as merchants. A few weeks later, they arrived at the capital and dutifully told the army of the horde.

The nobles and bureaucrats of the Great Empire do not like hearing bad news, especially from mercenaries. Furthermore, the court soothsayers declared Xin and all who served under him as cursed. No army would take the mercenaries now, even General Tzu’s new army, which is tasked with defeating the Grey Sky Horde. This tale concerns the fate of Xin’s Crows – the cursed remnants of his army. Their only chance of fulfilling their destinies is to become traveling merchants, selling to Tzu’s army. So begins the saga of a group of foreign warriors who would change the fate of the Great Empire forever.